The Year the South Went Red
The Civil Rights Act was the Final Straw of Decades-long Struggles within Both Parties
In 1964, most of the South voted Red, voted Republican. Not surprising, right? The South always votes Republican. Right?
Not in your grandpappy’s day! Previous to 1964, Southerners were Democratic Blue from way back; all the way back, in fact, to Thomas Jefferson’s election in 1800, the origin of the Democratic Party.
So why, then, did the South suddenly break over 160 years of tradition in 1964, and vote Republican from that time forward?
Democrats, from the beginning of our nation, were for the little people, the common man (although of course, for both parties, the definition of who was or was not a “common man” at that time was limited to only men — not women — and only to White, Christian [preferably not Catholic] men). This characteristic — of being the party of the vast majority who are neither rich nor powerful, “the Democracy”— endured until it finally blossomed for women by 1920, and for minorities during the 1960’s (both “blossoms” being not fully opened still now, in 2020).
The Democrats’ opponents were called by the name Federalists in 1800, Whigs in 1833, and Republicans in 1854, but they were always (and still are) the same party: the conservative party, representing the Establishment and thus wishing to “conserve things” in their present state: the money men and businessmen (who need a stable government to allow profit-making), government employees and politicians, the police and military, and the dominant religious community (Protestant Christianity). All of these groups had and have reason to maintain the status quo, to not upend society or the distribution of wealth. This conservative party, under whatever name, was in power primarily in the Northeast, and then later, in the Northern portions of the West and Northwest.
The Democrats were based in the agrarian South, including Virginia, which had given birth to four of the first five US Presidents: Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. Since slavery existed almost exclusively in the South by 1820 or so, the Democratic Party naturally came to represent the South in its fight against abolitionism: and therefore to attempt to legitimize slavery. Attempting to expand slavery into new states to the West and South, they went so far as to push for annexation of Cuba among other schemes, in order to expand slave territory. Their political power in Congress and over the presidency was decisive.
Abolitionists — many of them religiously motivated — gravitated toward, and eventually took over, the conservative party of the Northeastern city-folk, the Whigs and then the Republicans, ultimately overruling the money-men who shied away from taking a stand, pushing abolition to the point of war and beyond. For one glorious moment, the Republicans shone forth as being on the side of liberty (the opposite of their usual proclivity for limiting the vote and otherwise keeping the “dirty masses” in their place, which they continue to this day).
By 1860, both parties — Democratic and Republican — had split over the slavery question, paving the way for no less than FOUR major candidates for President on the ballot. Despite this divided electorate, Lincoln, a Republican centrist who stood firm in his rhetoric at not allowing Slavery to expand (into new territories), won a majority of electoral votes and took the Presidency.
For some time after the Civil War ended, the South was not allowed to vote, or was closely supervised, with Union troops and federal agents supporting voter safety and assuring fair voting; but by 1876 at the end of Grant’s second term, the North washed its hands of overseeing the intransigent South (thus in essence conceding the Civil War victory back to the Confederacy). The South was back voting again as they wished. As can be seen below, they voted nearly solidly Democratic for the next 80 years:
During these eighty years from 1876 to 1956, both parties ignored and, from time to time, fought to advance or to defeat, various causes. The parties were a mixed bag, ethically: for instance, in the labor battle, Republicans were on the side of the rich magnates while Democrats supported unions and the workingman; but on the other hand, most of the opposition to women gaining the right to vote (woman suffrage) came from Democrats: Southern Democrats, specifically and meaningfully.
In the first decade of the twentieth century, it was Republican Theodore Roosevelt who fought against the great monopolies such as Standard Oil and the railroad companies. But it was Democrat Woodrow Wilson that attempted to bring peace to the world through the League of Nations, only to be defeated by Republican and Southern Democratic opposition.
Thus neither party stood out prominently as the “better” party, the “good” party, unlike during Republicans’ glory days back in the 1850s and 1860s. Neither party now particularly stood up for minorities, the obvious sin of slavery having been eradicated. Neither party stood up for the poor or disadvantaged. Certainly there was no further talk about “forty acres and a mule,” or anything else which might level the playing field between the haves and the have-nots. That changed when the Democrats stepped up to meet the crisis of the Depression, changing American government and society irreversibly (we hope) toward greater compassion and justice.
Franklin D. Roosevelt — 1933–1945
When Franklin Roosevelt took office in 1933, he put forward a series of bills and measures which sought to save the sinking economy and provide relief for the people. Many of these bills dealt with federal power and federal regulation of the financial industry, manufacturing, and labor. Southerners traditionally did not like a strong federal government (“States’ Rights!” was their cry from way back, when they used it to defend local control of the slavery question), and they were not pleased. Especially galling to them was the Social Security Act of 1935, which — like many of the New Deal programs — would help not only poor Whites, but Blacks and other minorities as well. “We don’t want to pay for them!”
Presaging the upcoming re-alignment, a “Conservative Coalition” was formed in 1939 to oppose Roosevelt. Made up of conservative Republicans and (mostly Southern) conservative Democrats, they successfully fought to stymie further New Deal legislation. This alliance would later — in 1964 and 1968 and beyond — become the new Republican Party, dominated by the South.
Harry S. Truman — 1945–1952
This same Conservative Coalition successfully fought back against unions during Harry Truman’s first term with the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947, restricting the activities and powers of labor unions, overcoming a presidential veto. In 1948, Truman faced opposition from the Coalition once again to mild civil rights measures as well as integration of the U.S. Armed Services and federal agencies.
Also in 1948, Hubert H. Humphrey, Senator from Minnesota, addressed the Democratic National Convention, winning support for a civil rights plank with an impassioned speech, saying, “The time has arrived in America for the Democratic Party to get out of the shadow of states’ rights and walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights!” The entire Mississippi delegation and half the Alabama delegation walked out of the convention hall in response.
In the 1948 Presidential election, pitting Harry Truman against Republican Thomas Dewey, a third candidate — Strom Thurmond of South Carolina — got into the fray as an out-and-out segregationist, and attempted to take votes away from Truman. But additional Black votes both North and South more than made up for the loss, and Truman won the day. The Democratic Party was becoming the party of choice for many black voters.
Dwight D. Eisenhower — 1953–1960
One of the leaders of the Conservative Coalition was Senator Robert A. Taft of Ohio: in 1952 he opposed General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the moderate candidate, for the Republican nomination. Moderate Republicans such as “Ike” at this time “tended to be interventionists, who felt that America needed to fight the Cold War overseas…they were also willing to accept most aspects of the social welfare state created by the New Deal in the 1930s”. At the 1952 Republican Convention there was dispute and acrimony between the conservatives and the moderates, but Eisenhower came out victorious, and went on to win the presidency for two terms. Florida, Texas, and one or two other Southern States voted for the Ike/Nixon ticket in another sign of the confusion in Southern minds on which Party was now preferable.
Eisenhower supported some mild civil rights measures, and in fact nominated five liberal Supreme Court judges in his eight years. He defended NATO and other international alliances against the isolationist Conservative Coalition.
In 1956 as Eisenhower sought re-election, 101 Southern US Representatives — 99 Democrats, 2 Republicans — signed “the Southern Manifesto”, as it was called, officially known as the Declaration of Constitutional Principles”. These Representatives were from the former Confederate states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. This “Manifesto” stated their opposition to Brown v. Board of Education, a case in which the US Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools are unconstitutional.
The South was becoming more and more dissatisfied with the inexorable progression of civil rights legislation. Several Southern states once again voted Republican in 1956.
John F. Kennedy — 1961–1963
1960 Election — Republicans chose tough-talking attack dog Vice President Richard Nixon as their nominee. Nixon had made his mark first as a young US Representative, busting communists as a member of the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Shortly before the Republican convention in July, 1960, Nixon’s opponent New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller (grandson of oil magnate John D. Rockefeller, Sr.) pulled Nixon and the Republican platform somewhat to the Left (i.e. toward the Center), with an agreement concluded at Rockefeller’s New York apartment. It included provisions, among others, in relation to labor relations, education, farming, and most importantly to our discussion here, civil rights, on which Rockefeller wrote in the joint statement put out to the press,
“Our program for civil rights must assure aggressive action to remove the remaining vestiges of segregation or discrimination in all areas of national life — voting and housing, schools and jobs. It will express support for the objectives of the sit-in demonstrators and will commend the action of those business men who have abandoned the practice of refusing to serve food at their lunch counters to their Negro customers and will urge all others to follow their example.” Source: Wiki Page on 1st Avenue Treaty
As you can see, it is a bit wishy-washy, not really calling for specific action, but nevertheless it was more than enough to alienate the conservative wing of the Republican Party.
During the 1960 campaign, Nixon’s running mate Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. also did his part to complicate things, as he rashly pledged in a speech that there would “be a Negro in the Cabinet,” causing Nixon to hem and haw with talk of hiring “the best man possible without regard to race, creed or color”, which satisfied no one. Source: “1960: LBJ vs JFK vs Nixon — The Epic Campaign That Forged Three Presidencies”; Author: David Petrusza, pp 356–357 (Kindle version)
On the Democratic side, the nomination of a Roman Catholic — Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy — in itself was a bit of a stretch for American society, given the historical distrust among Protestants of Roman Catholicism and Papal authority. On civil rights, also, the move was toward the Left, as the liberal, urban wing of the party dominated.
In the words of David Pietrusza, “In 1948, Southerners had stormed out in protest against the party’s stand” (when Hubert Humphrey spoke to the Democratic National Convention supporting a civil rights plank). “In 1952 and 1956, liberals accordingly drew back. In 1960, the national Democratic Party was once more the civil rights party.” Source: “1960: LBJ vs JFK vs Nixon — The Epic Campaign That Forged Three Presidencies”; Author: David Petrusza, Page 224 (Kindle version)
At the Democratic convention of 1960, “JFK…wary of unnecessarily alienating fractious progressives, did not stand in the way of the magic that party liberals were working upon the platform — in fact he supported their every move, most notably a civil rights plank unprecedented in its strength.” Source: “1960: LBJ vs JFK vs Nixon — The Epic Campaign That Forged Three Presidencies”; Author: David Petrusza, Page 224 (Kindle version)
Southern Democrats were unsuccessful in their attempt to water down the civil rights plank, further straining Southern support for and loyalty to the Democratic Party.
John F. Kennedy, before his assassination in November, 1963, put forward civil rights legislation which was pushed to passage by his successor, Lyndon Johnson.
Lyndon B. Johnson — 1963–1968
LBJ took over from John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, completing his martyred predecessor’s term through the remainder of the year and then through 1964 — during which time he declared a “War on Poverty” and pushed through the Civil Rights Act of 1964, among other efforts. All of this despite Johnson being a Southerner, and despite his having always previously opposed anti-segregation measures during his time in the Senate.
“When the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed on July 2 (1964), Johnson told his staff, “I think we just gave the South to the Republicans for your lifetime and mine.” Source: Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus, page 365; Rick Perlstein
…and so it was. In 1964 the entire nation voted Blue, Democratic. But the heart of the South — Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina (as well as Goldwater’s home state of Arizona) — voted Red, Republican Red, as they jumped ship from the new civil rights champion, the Democratic Party.
The conservative faction of the Republican Party — which had for decades controlled Congress by voting with the Southern Democrats to stymie progress — abandoned moderate candidates such as Eisenhower and — as they saw it — Richard Nixon, and chose one of their own: ultra-conservative Barry Goldwater. Moderates, or “liberal Republicans” — who were also the internationalists — were supplanted by isolationist, racist, reactionary forces. This crippled Republicans in the election, with Johnson winning a huge victory.
But from the ashes of this defeat, a revitalized the Republican Party rose forth — forsaking moderation, proudly, reactively conservative — combining the old Republican conservatives with the formerly Democratic South. And so the South would vote Republican forever after (with two partial exceptions we’ll discuss shortly: Carter and Clinton, both Southerners).
Of the 1964 Presidential election race, author D.J. Mulloy writes, “For the first time since the end of the Civil War, large numbers of white southerners had abandoned the Democratic Party to vote for a Republican candidate for the presidency.” Source: Enemies of the State: The Radical Right in American from FDR to Trump, page 83.
1968
By 1968 a new alignment of South and West with the Republicans would carry Richard Nixon to power despite much of the South voting for George Wallace (splitting the vote), a Democrat who was farther to the Right of Nixon, openly segregationist, openly racist. This large-scale defection of the South weakened the Democrats by decreasing the numbers of conservatives and/or racists they’d always harbored, but by the same token the various civil rights measures of recent years, as well as government programs such as the social safety net, guaranteed that minorities of any kind would vote primarily Democratic from this time forward.
The Republican Party suddenly found itself home to Southerners, who shared their strong — usually Fundamentalist — Christianity, putting abortion onto the agenda, and introducing a Science-denial element to the Party (since Evolution/Science contradicts the Bible and Creationism). The Democratic Party was also introduced to Southern Christianity by candidate Jimmy Carter in 1976, who won several Southern states due to his “favorite son” status — but he was not “Christian enough” in the end for Southerners, since he did not openly oppose legalized abortion and seemed to support secular government. The solution to this rode in from the West in 1980 in the form of Ronald Reagan (a supporter of Barry Goldwater in 1964), who had Christian support, including that of Jerry Falwell’s Moral Majority.
In 1980 Reagan won nearly all the South, except for only Carter’s home state of Georgia; the South voted overwhelmingly Red again in 1984 as Reagan won a second term, and in 1988 as his Vice President, George H.W. Bush won a term.
In 1992, and 1996, Bill Clinton of Arkansas took some of the South as a Democrat in his two wins (again, Southern Democrat “favorite sons” candidates are, or were in any case, still able to split the South); but by 2000 the Republicans dominated the South again, and this has now continued through 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, and it would seem likely, 2020.
Now in 2020, People of Color and Liberals outnumber the conservative Whites who take refuge in the Republican Party, and a time of reckoning has come for a Party that gave up on racial inclusiveness decades ago.
